I saw Annie Jacobsen's new book on nuclear war, and I was not impressed enough with it to plunk down real money. Are there any contemporary books on the subject written by more serious authors ?

I read one in graduate school with something "MAD" in the title, but I'm looking for a more recent treatment of the subject. Not necessarily a detailed history but more a brief review of it's history, with more discussion from various perspectives, something along those lines more or less.

Do you guys have any recommendations ?

Not quite what you're after, but Dan Carlin's book "The End Is Always Near" is a quick overview that touches on a few different reasons for historical societal collapses and the threat of other potential civilization-ending threats in the future, including a portion on the nuclear arms race and the potential for nuclear armageddon. It's good, because all of Dan's content is, and it's a fast read at only 288 pages.

https://www.amazon.com/End-Alw...llapse/dp/0062868047

(If you're a fan of Carlin's "Hardcore History" podcast, get the audiobook version. It's basically another HH episode, since it's read by Carlin himself.)


In fact, he also has a Hardcore History podcast episode that deals with the early Cold War nuclear arms race, which is available free from either his website or from your favorite podcast aggregator.

And who doesn't like high quality stuff for free.

https://www.dancarlin.com/prod...destroyer-of-worlds/

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/...1861?i=1000380386551

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_alstLc_NfE

https://open.spotify.com/episo...W1iOwym34Whn5JpAjBRs

Etc.

Have you guys read this book, or these authors ?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Not a book, but just as a foundation, you might explore online the US Single Integrated Operations Plan (SIOP). Declassified segments of SIOP are available.

This was the US' general plan for nuclear war for about 40 years (early 1960s to early 2000s). It was updated a couple of times during those years as the nature of threats changed.

There's a great deal of information contained in the non-classified parts of the SIOP. Everything from the use of strategic weapons against cities, the number of warheads allotted for Moscow (last I recall about 6), and that if the Russians were to launch a first strike, the US retaliatory response would also strike China, even if China weren't involved. I've attached some links below. I hope I attached them properly. Please let me know if I didn't.

SIOP-61

SIOP-62

A book I've had since I was a teenager in the 80s was "Nuclear War Survival Skills" by Cresson Kearny. It's available on eBay and was published in 1982. Not recent, but full of information from the height of the Cold War.